Safety razor



June 5, 1956 M. J.-SHNITZLER ET AL 2,748,467

SAFETY RAZOR Filed April 24. 1952 m an 5 m 2 O A) 0.. l, H .1. w m LI"#3 w n f u m a 9 m 2 1( E5 EEEEEEEF United States Patent SAFETY RAZORMeyer J; Shnitzler, Brookline, and Frank Ferrara, Medford, Mass.,assignors to The Giliette Company, hoston, Mass, a corporation ofDelaware Application Aprili24, 1952, Serial No. 2843114- Claims. (Cl.306'0.5)

This invention comprises a new and improved safety razor of the unitarytype, that is to say, of the type that has no loose or detachable parts.Such safety razors include a spider movable with respect to the bladeseat and carrying pivotally mounted cap sections. The opposite ends-ofthis movable spider have heretofore been more orless exposed, and it hassometimes resulted that the user will-hold the razor between histhumb-and forefinger by the ends of the spider and so'interfere-with thefree closing movement of the razor, perhaps by displacing the blade fromthe blade seat so that it is caught by the closing cap sections. This isparticularly likely to occur when the'user is changing from the use of athree-piece razor and has thus acquired the habit of holding the razorhead by its endswith one hand andturning the handle'with' his other handin clamping or releasing the blade. Danger of cutting is avoided inhandling razors of that type by holding the hazor head in this mannerand" contacting the unsharpened ends of the blades at the ends of: therazor head rather than attempting to engage the sides of the razor wherethe sharp blade edges are partially exposed.

An important advantage of the improved razor of the present invention isthat both ends of the spider are completely shielded by stationaryprotectors which also serve as convenient finger grips for holding therazor while a freshblade is being presented thereto or a used bladeremoved therefrom. In the razor of the present invention thetmovement ofthe ends of the spider in closing thecap sections takes place in a paththat is completely enclosed by extensions from a relatively stationaryportion of the razor that may take the shape of Wide flat aprons, notonly covering the moving parts, but presenting extended finger gripsthat are comfortable to the hand of the-user and located where theywillbe most naturally engaged.

The aprons which serveas shields and finger grips have also. a. thirdfunction in that they reinforce and'support the pointsofi connectionbetween the spider and the cap sections. Thus, these parts. whicharepreferably of'somewhatv delicate construction, are reinforced andheld positively against springing even when an undue amount of force isexerted by the user in clamping the blade for shaving.

Many advantages of the improved razor reside in constructional featuresthat permit it to be constructed of prefabricated steel parts in aneconomical manner and facilitate the employment. of fixtures forassembly in manufacture. The construction is also such that in afinished razor, plating protects all points of connection between thevarious parts. of the razor and so obviates corrosion and insures longlife in use.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description ofa preferred embodimentthereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the razor in closed position and onan intermediate enlarged scale.

2,748,467 Patented June 5,. 1956 ZI Fig. 2' is a view of the razor headin longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the parts ofthe spider.

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the guard or blade seat so designedthat they may be prefabricated from sheet steel. by. simple. stampingand bending operations. The. guard; or blade. seat member as best. shownin Fig. 4 is formed of sheet metal of uniform thickness. It comprises anapproximately rectangular blade seat. 10 having embossed or molded.therein an elongated diamondshaped depression 11 and provided in eachend with a- T-shaped aperture 12 which. extends partly into the de--pression. 11 and which is designed to permit thefree vertical passage ofone arm of the spider as will presently be described. The longitudinaledges of the blade seat member are turned downwardly to provide roundedguard flanges 13. These may be transversely'scored as shown. andpartially set off from the body of the blade seat member by elongatednarrow slots.

The end portions of the member 19 merge into necks 14. of reduced widthand these necks in turn merge through aroundedbend into down-turnedintegral aprons 15 that are substantially wider than the necks 14 and asherein shown extend transversely and outwardly slightly beyond the endsof the guard flanges 13. As optional features, each of the aprons 15 isshown as having its outer surface scored and as being provided with aninwardly depressed area 16 which provides an inwardly ofiset surface.The reduced neck 141 is defined by symmetrically disposed square notches17 in the member 16 and these, as it will be seen, provide passages forthe arms of the cap sec tions. The blade seat member 10 is furtherprovided with a centrally'disposed hole 18 located inthe bottom of itsdiamond-shapeddepression 11 and permitting passage of a stem forconnection with the handle of the razor;

The spider comprises a two-ply longitudinal bar 20 provided with acentrally located down-turned stem 21. The bar merges at both ends intoflat down-turned arms 22, the bar being undercut at each end so thathooked projections are provided either of which may be engaged with theslot of a longitudinally slotted blade when it is desired to supply sucha blade from a blade dispensing magazine. Each of the down-turned arms22' is provided at its lower end with a square outwardly projecting boss23land upon each of these bosses is mounted a cross bar 24 having acentrally disposed square aperture shaped to fit the boss 23. The bosses23 terminate flush with the outer surface of the bars 24 but do not passthrough them; Each of the bars 24' has a wide central section in whichthe aperture is formed and oppositely extending arms of reduced widthand each of'these terminates in an outwardly turned ear constituting. apivot 25. As already observed, it will be seen. that the parts of thespider above-described may be formed by shearing from sheet metal ofuniform thickness, supplemented or preceded in the case of the cross bar24 by a folding operation to provide the two-ply structure and aswagingoperation to form the pivots 25.

The cap sections 27 collectively form a, substantially rectangularblade-clamping member overlying the blade seat 10, and are notched intheir meeting edges to provide clearance for the longitudinalbar 20 ofthe spider.

Each cap section 27 is provided at its opposite corners with a flatdown-turned arm 28, perforated at its lower end to receive one of thepivots 25 which projects out-. wardly from the ends of the cross bars 24of the Spider. Each of the arms 28 terminates in an outwardly extend,-in ear 29 which is so located as to encounter one end of the guardflange 13 when the spider is moved upwardly.

When this occurs, the pivots 25 pass above the ends of the guard flanges13 and the engagement of the ears 29 with the ends of the flanges 13causes the cap sections to swing outwardly and fully to expose the bladeseat 10. The arms 28 of the cap sections slide upon the outer surfaceofthe cross bars 24 and thus prevent them from becoming disengaged fromthe bosses 23.

The razor includes a handle 30 in the end of which is inserted a tubularmetal plug 31 passed through the hole 18 of the blade seat member andspun outwardly into a flange 32, thus rotatively connecting the handlewith the blade seat member. The stem 21 of the spider is provided with athreaded extension 33 which is received in a correspondingly threadedsocket in the plug 31. Accordingly, by rotating the handle, the spideris moved relatively up and down with respect to the blade seat, and thecap sections are correspondingly opened or closed. In these operationsthe razor head may be conveniently held between the thumb and forefingerof the user through the medium of the aprons 15, and these apronscompletely shield the opposite ends of the spider, including the crossbars 24 and also the down-turned arms of the cap sections. The openingand closing of the cap sections and the position of the blade upon theblade seat are, therefore, completely shielded from interference.

It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 2 that the inner surfaces ofthe aprons, namely the inner faces on either side of the depressed areas16 lie flush with the outer faces of the arms 28, so that the points ofconnection of these arms and the pivots 25 slide in engagement with theinner faces of the aprons and thus are securely backed up and reinforcedby the aprons both when the spider occupies its lower or blade-clampingposition and while in transit from one position to the other. Therefore,in the event of excessive pressure in clamping the razor parts, outwarddeflection of the arms 28, which might otherwise occur, is positivelyprevented.

It will be noted that the blade 40 projects at its unsharpened end edgesslightly beyond the reduced necks 14 of the blade-seat member and thatthe rounded bend of these necks in merging into the aprons 15 providesspace into which the flesh of the users thumb and forefinger mayslightly bulge in grasping the ends of the blade. This not onlyfacilitates removal of a used blade, but enables the user to follow thesame technique he may have practised in using a three-piece razor, thatis to say, he may hold the razor head by the grips afforded by theaprons 15 in one hand after he has presented a fresh blade and turn thehandle 30 with the other, all without altering his grasp on any part ofthe razor. And he may grasp the unsharpened ends of the blade withoutchanging the position of his hand on the finger grips.

It has been pointed out that the aprons 15 back up and reinforce thepoints of pivotal connection between the bars 24 and the arms 28 of thecap sections. The inwardly offset areas 16 correspondingly back up andreinforce the point of connection between each of the bars 24 and thedown-turned arms 22 of the spider by engaging the bars in areas aboutthe ends of the boss 23.

The aprons have still another useful safety function and that is theyreduce the drop damage to the razor by covering the more delicatearticulated parts of its structure.

Having thus diselosed our invention and described in detail anillustrative embodiment thereof, we claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising a guard member having a blade seat, aspider movable with respect to said seat and including a downwardlyextending arm at each end having an outwardly projecting lug, a crossbar carried by each of said lugs, and cap sections pivotally connectedto said cross bars and having downwardly projecting portions arranged toswing over the outer faces of the cross bars.

2. A safety razor comprising a guard member having a blade seat, aspider movable with respect to said seat and including a downwardlyextending arm at each end having an outwardly extending lug, a cross barfitted at an intermediate point on each lug and having an outwardlydirected pivot at each end, and cap sections having downwardly extendingarms connected to said pivots and holding the cross bars fromdisengagement with the said lugs.

3. A safety razor comprising a blade-supporting member and a pair ofoverlying cap sections having integral down-turned end portions spacedto embrace the ends of said blade-supporting member, a spider movablymounted in said member, separate cross bars mounted on bosses atopposite ends of the spider and held against removal by the down-turnedend portions of the cap sections, and pivotal connections between thecap sections and said cross bars.

4. A safety razor comprising a guard member having a blade seat with alongitudinal slot therein, a spider having a longitudinal bar movablethrough said slot and downturned arms at both ends extending below theguard member, a separate cross bar suspended at its center upon each ofsaid arms, cap sections shaped to overlie the guard member and havingdownturned arms pivotally connected to the outer ends of the said crossbars, and fixed aprons holding each suspended cross bar in place byengaging it about its point of suspension.

5. A safety razor comprising a blade-seat member of sheet metal havingits outer ends downturned at right angles and extended transversely, aspider movable with respect to said member and having down-turned armspresenting outwardly directed pivots, and cap sections mounted on saidpivots and supported at their points of pivotal connection by slidingcontact with the inner surfaces of the down-turned ends of theblade-seat member.

6. A safety razor comprising a blade-seat member of sheet metal havingdown-turned finger grips of substantial area at both ends, a spidermovable with respect to said member, and cap sections pivotallyconnected to, and outwardly of, the spider and positioned within saidfinger grips and confined against outward displacement by movablecontact with said finger grips.

7. A safety razor comprising a blade-seat member, a handle having arotary connection with said member, a spider having a threadedconnection with the handle, cap sections pivotally mounted outwardly onthe ends of the spider, and sheet metal aprons of substantial areaformed integrally with the blade-seat member and spaced to span thepoints of pivotal connection when the cap sections occupy their bladeclamping position in cooperation with the blade-seat member and to makesliding engagement with said points in the movement of the cap sectionsto their open position.

8. A unitary safety razor having a head portion including a guard memberpresenting a blade seat, a spider having separate cross bars suspendedat each end, cap sections pivotally connected to said cross bars, ahandle rotatably connected to the guard member and having a threadedconnection with the spider, and finger grips in the form of wide sheetmetal aprons connected to the guard member and extending transverselyacross the ends of the head portion in sliding engagement with saidcross bars, thus leaving the latter free for movement when the handle isrotated in opening or closing the razor.

9. A safety razor comprising a guard member, a spider, cap sectionshaving arms pivoted to the spider outwardly thereof, and downturnedaprons at each end of the guard member each having an inner surfacedisposed in sliding engagement with the points of pivotal connection 5between the cap sections and the spider to back up and reinforce thesame.

10. A safety razor comprising a guard member having a blade seat, aspider having separate cross bars suspended at each end thereof, capsections shaped to overlie the guard member and having downturned armspivotally connected to the outer ends of the said cross bars, anddownturned aprons at each end of the guard member, each apron havinginner surfaces disposed in sliding engagement With the points of pivotalconnection between the cap sections and the spider and further eachhaving an inwardly offset area holding each suspended cross bar in placeby engaging it about its point of suspension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,048,560 Muros July 21, 1936 2,060,520 Muros Nov. 10, 1936 2,264,323Monnet Dec. 2, 1941 2,547,704 Hoberg Apr. 3, 1951

